Business Analyst at Rice University in Houston, Texas

Job Description:

Special Instructions to Applicants: All interested applicants please attach a cover letter and resume in PDF format.

About Rice:

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally, and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lecture series, courses, and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty, staff, and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rice's culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name - RICE - Responsibility, Integrity, Community, and Excellence.

Position Summary:

Under the leadership of the Director of Strategic Analytics, the Business Analyst will be responsible for analyzing and interpreting data related to Rice University's development and fundraising efforts from corporations and foundations. This person will serve as a consultant to the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (OCFR) and will work with various data sources and tools to conduct extensive analytical evaluations of corporate partner and foundation engagement with Rice, with the goal of augmenting a holistic OCFR strategy.

A key responsibility of this role will be a focus on data integration: collaborating on the design to meet end user needs, assessing the project scope with technical teams, and managing the execution of the integrations to ensure seamless data flow across multiple systems. The Business Analyst will collaborate with campus partners involved with data information systems, including Development and Alumni Relations, the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations, the Office of Research, the Enterprise Data and Business Intelligence team and others across the university. Through data mining, reporting and dashboard development, industry benchmarking, and one-off analyses, the Business Analyst will be responsible for guiding the OCFR team on various strategies that will lead to success in increasing corporate and foundation engagement at Rice University, aligned with the university's newly unveiled strategic plan.

About Rice:

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty, staff and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rice's culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name - RICE - Responsibility, Integrity, Community and Excellence.

The ideal candidate will have experience in data mapping and analyzing complex data sets to produce analyses for consumption by a variety of non-technical users. The candidate will be knowledgeable about industry standards, understand potential business opportunities and their impact, and is able to facilitate ongoing partnerships between Development and Alumni Relations, the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations, the Office of Research, Enterprise Data and Business Intelligence and other campus partners. The Business Analyst will use innovative methods to turn user needs into processes, analyses, and reports that improve understanding of corporate and foundation engagement at Rice quality.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree with emphasis in data analysis, mathematics, statistics, financial analysis or relevant coursework
• 2+ years of related experience in data analysis, data modeling, data engineering, statistical modeling and/or analytics, with a history of producing readable, informative analyses for a variety of non-technical users

Skills:

• Excellent analytical and creative problem-solving skills
• Excellent listening skills
• Proficient document and specification skills to share information in a clear and concise manner
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Displays good judgment in dynamic situations
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment across multiple departments
• Values attention to detail
• Utilizes strong time management skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite
• Knowledge of advancement database software concepts and related programs

Preferences:

• Three or more years of related experience described above
• Experience working for an institution of higher education, non-profit organization, or corporation in data analytics or a related field
• Understanding of data integrations and experience managing data flow across systems
• Experience with Tableau, Power BI or other data visualization tools
• Experience with CRMs (e.g. Blackbaud CRM) or research grant proposal systems (e.g. Cayuse)
• Experience analyzing and synthesizing complex data sets to produce readable, informative analyses for consumption by a variety of non-technical users
• Knowledge of fundraising best practices and strategies
• Strong SQL query skills to extract and transform data from a variety of sources such as Oracle cloud (Microsoft SQL Server preferred)
• Understanding of data mining and data management tools and techniques

Essential Functions:

• Create a comprehensive OCFR data strategy to identify and gather corporation and foundation engagement data from multiple systems across campus to be stored in one centralized system (Blackbaud CRM) through constant collaboration with the OCFR team, campus partners, and the Development Information Services team
• Manage and monitor data integrations to ensure seamless data flow across systems (namely Cayuse and Blackbaud CRM)
• Approach problem solving with creativity, innovation and resilience
• Analyze fundraising data (e.g. donations, research grants, event attendance, etc.) and compare historical trends and peer benchmarks, and present insights to stakeholders in a clear and concise manner, all aimed at furthering Rice University's newly launched strategic plan
• Conduct analyses on current and prospective Presidential Partner companies (Rice's most engaged corporate partners), finding and communicating relevant information in a readable format to campus partners
• Develop and maintain dashboards and reports using data visualization tools such as Tableau and Power BI
• Utilize Microsoft SQL to query and manage large datasets
• Assist in recommending technical systems necessary to meet the strategic goals of corporate and foundation engagement at Rice
• Study, recommend and implement new techniques to convey data in an impactful format for various audiences
• Serve as a premier business analyst/consultant to non-technical staff, working as an "analytics translator" to convey complex insights in a way that is understandable to non-technical stakeholders
• Effectively articulate corporate relations data needs to campus partners
• Maintain knowledge of industry trends and standards in fundraising
• Perform all other duties as assigned

Additional Functions:

• Occasional contact within the university with faculty, deans and administrators, including the president and provost in writing, in person and by telephone
• Frequent contact with senior development staff and development officers in writing, in person, over Zoom and by telephone
• Occasional contact with corporate personnel and alumni at corporations
• Occasional contact with outside research sources (e.g., libraries, information specialists, etc.)
• Open office environment
• Long hours in front of a computer

Rice University HR | Benefits: https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits-overview

Rice Mission and Values: Mission and Values | Rice University

Rice University is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to diversity at all levels and considers for employment qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status.

Rice University is committed to ensuring Equal Employment Opportunity and the full inclusion of all qualified persons in the workplace. This commitment includes providing reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities. For applicants with disabilities who require a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please contact Rice University's Disability Resource Center at 713-348-5841 or adarice@rice.edu for support.

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